Our doves did try to eat some of the rice I threw out for them as I had read that someone had said they liked rice. Yesterday I noticed that our baby doves were sitting alone but we were also aware that the Mom and Dad were close by watching over them. Late in the day a Blue Jay was after the two little ones sitting in thier nest. Both parents decended on the Blue Jay until he flew away. Neither of the parents went back to the nest; we were concerned that they wouldn't make it to the next day. To our joy we found the Mom sitting on the nest early in the morning. However later both parents were away from the baby doves. Late this afternoon I was thrilled to witness both the Mom and Dad at the nest; Mom was feeding the little ones. And later - no parents, no baby doves. They had left the nest. My previous witness of all four of them together must have been the LAST family gathering. My question is: Do the parents stay with thier young long enough to teach them full flying lessons or do they kick them out of the nest and expect them to survive on thier own?

There are no restrictions on hunting WW doves, they are an invasive species. You can shoot/trap/hunt them anytime of year in any number. Maybe a nice stewed dove dinner is in the works? The Inca or little Mexican doves should be starting to migrate about now. I have all 3 year round here. They seem to take turns at the feeder, first the WW, then the mourning, sometimes the Inca are mixed in with the first 2 & sometimes they flock in all at once. The feeders will be deserted then every bird in Galveston shows up, then they all leave. How the heck do you NOT feed them & feed the others? Tally HO!

The cheapest way to get rid of a cat is to do something to make it remember your yard as a no-go zone. In other words, scare the crao out of it. I had this orange cat stalking around in my yard, trying to catch my birds. One day I looked out, saw the cat in the bushes between my deck and the lawn, so I grabbed an air horn, and slowly sneaked up behind it, and blasted the air horn right behind hit. I've never seen a cat jump so high in my life, and it ran, and ran, and ran, and I've never seen it again. I guess I traumatized it! Joe

A point about drinking. I haven't watched doves close up like I can the hummingbirds drinking from the hummzinger feeder outside my kitchen window. They do not use suction but lap up the nectar. It looks like a dog's tongue in action. Here's a link to video that will show you what I mean: High-Speed Video Shows How Hummingbirds Really Drink